Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various machines in which the kinetic energy of a moving fluid is converted to mechanical power by the impulse or reaction of the fluid with a series of buckets, paddles, or blades arrayed about the circumference of a wheel or cylinder.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A pair of turbines fastened on one shaft, either back to back or face to face, an arrangement which balances the pressure due to the weight of the driving water-column, and releases the stresses on the footsteps or thrust-bearings: usual in modern high-powered installations.
  • noun A water-wheel driven by the impact or reaction of a flowing stream of water, or by impact and reaction combined.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A water wheel, commonly horizontal, variously constructed, but usually having a series of curved floats or buckets, against which the water acts by its impulse or reaction in flowing either outward from a central chamber, inward from an external casing, or from above downward, etc.; -- also called turbine wheel.
  • noun A type of rotary engine with a set of rotating vanes, diagonally inclined and often curved, attached to a central spindle, and obtaining its motive force from the passage of a fluid, as water, steam, combusted gases, or air, over the vanes. Water turbines are frequently used for generating power at hydroelectric power stations, and steam turbines are used for generating power from coal- or oil-fired electric power stations. Turbines are also found in jet engines, and in some automobile engines.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun any of various rotary machines that use the kinetic energy of a continuous stream of fluid (a liquid or a gas) to turn a shaft

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun rotary engine in which the kinetic energy of a moving fluid is converted into mechanical energy by causing a bladed rotor to rotate

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Latin turbō, turbin-, spinning top, perhaps from Greek turbē, turmoil.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin turbinis, genitive of turbo ("circular movement, top, reel, spindle")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word turbine.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • In power plant talk, I've noticed people pronouncing turbine the way I would pronounce turban. I say the 2nd syllable more like it's an endive combine harvester from Irvine. Maybe a familiarity thing leading to erosion? American Heritage pronunciation (below) says it like them, Macmillan says it like me.

    January 17, 2023

  • I've been trying to figure out how I would normally say this (in the middle of nebraksa). I say "wind turbine" as if it rhymes with "turban," but if I were talking about a "turbine engine," then it would rhyme with the way Craig Morgan sings "combine" in the song "International Harvester."

    January 20, 2023

  • I remember watching videos of the Oroville dam crisis when their spillway broke. One youtuber was a pilot and he would sometimes switch from the Aviation 'turbin' to the hydro dam's turBINES .. but mostly use his preferred 'turbin' pronounciation.

    January 21, 2023